BC volleyball swept again in Canyons rematch
Oct. 27—When the Bakersfield College volleyball team welcomed College of the Canyons to the Gil Bishop Sports Center Wednesday night, the Renegades had a chance to demonstrate their progress over the last month.
After getting swept by the Cougars four weeks ago to conclude a rough September, BC had rattled off five straight conference wins entering the rematch.
And yet, despite the benefit of home-field advantage, the Renegades met the same fate as they had in Santa Clarita and found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-0 sweep. After an out-of-sorts, out-of-system first set, BC showed steady improvement in the next two frames and nearly stole the third before an Aly Grodell and Rhiannon Boddy ace sealed the result: 25-11, 25-18, 25-22.
COC has yet to drop a set in its first eight matches of conference play, a stark contrast from last season, when the Cougars lost 3-0 and 3-1 to BC in that same span.
They were propelled to victory Wednesday night by the strong, varied hitting of Kaelyn White, who tallied 14 kills in the three-set match. Brianna Botello added 11, while Jordan Nunez posted eight more despite plenty of time at setter.
BC, which fell to 9-8 (5-3 in conference) with the streak-snapping loss, struggled to find offensive rhythm and managed just 25 total kills in the match. Alexandra Johnson had nine. Aubree Dees provided a spark in the later sets as she moved outside from her usual setter position, but generally the Renegades felt the lack of injured outside hitter Kami Marion.
It was an off night from the opening moments, which featured a Nunez ace to kick off a 6-1 run. The Renegades drew nearer at 8-6 off some nice digs by Kya Jones, a pair of Johnson kills and a Dees ace, but were outscored 17-5 for the remainder of the set, including the final nine points with Abby Sherman serving. The Cougars repeatedly found holes in the BC defense, frequently with attacks that weren't especially hard-hit.
COC continued its hot streak after the stoppage between sets and scored the first five points, bringing the tally to 14 straight, before a bad set allowed BC to side out.
Tia Jules came alive in the middle of the set for three key kills that helped the Renegades narrow their deficit to 15-12 and forced a COC timeout, but BC lost its nerve late in the set and committed a series of three attack errors and one defensive mishap that gave the Cougars their second victory.
The third set featured by far BC's best effort, with a series of emphatic Tori Robertson kills, one just barely over the net following a long rally, giving BC its first lead and a 6-4 advantage. The teams were neck-and-neck until, after a game-tying block by Dees and Makena Knapp, the Cougars got three straight points on a pair of White kills and a block.
BC was unable to cut into that small deficit for the remainder of the match until a Johnson kill and ace narrowed COC's lead to 23-22 in the final moments.
But on the next rally, the Cougars easily handled efforts from Robertson and Haley Tedrow to set up the middle blocker Grodell's big kill, and concluded things with the Boddy ace.
BC will travel to face Glendale Friday night.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
